Impact of a culturally adapted behavioural family psychoeducational programme in patients with schizophrenia in Egypt

To study the effect of a culturally adapted, structured family intervention on symptom severity, medication attitudes and knowledge, social functioning and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia.

Thirty subjects with schizophrenia were selected to receive 14 sessions of a culturally adapted behavioural family psychoeducational programme (BFPEP). Another 30 subjects received standard treatment as usual (STU) for 6 months. Pre- and post-intervention outcomes were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Drug Attitude Inventory 10-item scale (DAI-10), Quality of Life Scale (QLS) and Social Functioning Questionnaire (SFQ).

There was a no significant difference between BFPEP and STU at baseline on all measures. There was a significant difference (p < .05) between pre- and post-treatment scores for BFPEP on all measures, a significant difference (p < .05) between pre- and post-treatment scores for STU on all measures (favouring pre-treatment scores) and a significant difference (p < .05) favouring BFPEP over STU on all measures post-treatment.

These results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing family therapy psychoeducational interventions in different cultural settings, with relatively minor modifications. This may have implications for mental health policy makers to make available such programmes for patients and mental health professionals.